Six Character Inspo: Tay'kaa Marr
A while back, there was this trend going around where people talked about six characters or so that inspired their OCs and I always wanted to take a crack at it, so here we are!
Each of these characters have served as inspirations for my OC one way or another (before, during, and after the creation of said OC) and this post is going to dive in a little to that because I have spent way too much time thinking about them and developing them without actually talking about them as an individual. Additionally, I’ll talk about their initial development and how I went about creating them because I put way more effort than I think is really necessary, aha…
Deep dive under the cut!
Initial Inspirations:
Tay was born out of the idea of "Let's give Crosshair a boyfriend" because I thought it would do him some good (this was during S3 when Cross was going through it) AND because I needed to see more queer pairings of clones and OCs (especially with Crosshair because like,, just look at him)
The way I see it, a partner for Crosshair either had to be 1) an incredibly gentle and caring soul who would easily melt his heart or something OR 2) just as much of a menace and a snarky bastard as he is so that he could keep up with Crosshair
I decided on going the second route because that sounded a lot more fun and thus the cocky, smug Tay who doesn't back down from a challenge and loves to tease and snark was born
But above all, I knew Crosshair's partner would have to be someone who's gone through similar life experiences to be able to understand him and connect with him on a level that others can't
So eventually Tay turned into someone whose childhood was stolen from him and was forced to grow up super fast in an extremely competitive environment that would literally kill you if you didn't perform at your absolute best - I don't know when or why I came up with the idea of him being a gladiator, but it ended up sticking and working out well
On top of that, he has his time spent with the Empire too so they can connect over that as well
Add in a dash of loyalty and BOOM. A suitable partner for Crosshair!
Samson (The Bible):
This was not intentional but one day it suddenly hit me that Tay's story and lore nearly paralleled Samson's
If you don't know, Samson is a bible story about this super strong dude with long hair (the source of his strength) who falls prey to a woman named Delilah who seduces him into telling her the source of his strength - he gives in and (I think) she cuts his hair, so when enemies attack, Samson is weakened and unable to protect his people <- (this is the long story made short)
With Tay, I had it so that Black Sun buys his freedom - wanting him to work for them as a mercenary - but they convince Tay into getting on board the idea with the help of one of their own: A Falleen who is the Delilah to Tay's Samson
As a gladiator, Tay is also essentially pimped out - she meets with him one night and charms him, convinces him to join Black Sun, making all kinds of promises, and they keep their little dynamic going once he's "freed"
She doesn't actually hold much attachments to him though, but Tay is under her influence because Falleen's can project pheromones to attract mates and that's essentially how she's made him fall for her
HOWEVER - When Tay betrays Black Sun and starts working for the Empire (giving away their secrets to them and whatnot) she's sent after him to learn about his weaknesses so that Black Sun can get back at him
Eventually she learns about his feelings towards Crosshair and about his surrogate mother, Nay'eli, and they become targets - Crosshair is spared though because by that time he's on Barton IV, but the same can't be said for his mother...
Oh! And in a modern AU Tay would have super long hair too
Jayce Talis (Arcane):
Halfway through watching Arcane, I realized how similar Jayce was to Tay - essentially I saw it as being: Jayce is who Tay would've been if Tay grew up on Champala and not in a gladiatorial arena.
Once I finished Arcane I literally made a Venn Diagram comparing the two to each other because there were so many parallels (see below)
Tay was pretty developed by the time I finished watching Arcane though, but the inspiration I did take from Jayce's character to implement into Tay's story was the "Accidentally/Indirectly killing a kid incident"
Jayce indirectly causes Isha's death and accidentally causes Renni's son's death - Tay indirectly causes the death of his mentee in the arena, thinking she's ready for matches when she isn't (which of course haunts him and is another underlying reason why he's afraid of fatherhood)
Fiyero Tigelaar (Wicked: The Musical):
Handsome, dark skinned airhead (affectionate)
Acts like life is all chill - 'dances' through life - doesn't dwell on the negative to avoid feeling any sort of pain
However, that in turn makes him seem a little careless, mindless, and a bit cocky but he's actually a sweet guy who's pretty loyal when it comes down to it
Is with someone at the start of the story, eventually realizes that's not the person he want to be with and they want to be with someone else instead like Fiyero experiences
Tay doesn't get turned into a scarecrow or anything though
Joaquin Mondragon (The Book of Life):
Joaquin, I think, was one character I had in mind when I was coming up with Tay because they just have that 'himbo' vibe about them
I think I was thinking about Book of Life and then thinking about Joaquin that led me to the idea of Tay being a gladiator - because of the bull fighting and all that
Bit of a pompous, cocky bastard who is easily admired by most and feels like it's warranted - Joaquin because he's the 'hero' of the town and Tay because he's the 'champion' of the arena
At the end of things they realize that there's better things to fight for than just glory and recognition
Finnick Odair (The Hunger Games):
I rewatched The Hunger Games recently and had like "Oh shit" moment when Finnick showed up because I was like "That's Tay."
They use tridents, they're good at swimming, they've been in arenas and came out victors, and they have a maternal figure who looks out for them but ultimately dies in an arena - those are like some really basic similarities between the two
There's also the prostitution bit!
Finnick, after the Games, being forced into prostitution by President Snow because he was a "desirable" Victor at 16 - Tay being forced into prostitution by Osika Kirske, the owner of the arena, because he's a desirable champion at 17
Finnick at least used it to his advantage and got secrets out of it but Tay'kaa wasn't really in a position to really ask for anything in return and he was a little desperate for a touch that wasn't violent
But I'm not cruel enough to off Tay when he's just about to get a happy ending though - he gets to have his partner, his kid, and peace at the end of his story
Aladdin (Aladdin):
Aladdin was one of the characters I originally drew inspiration from when coming up with Tay because I just love characters like him - scruffy little street rats with hearts of gold
A "Diamond in the Rough" so they say
Now that I think about it - originally I had planned for Tay to have his own "Abu" in the form of a BD-1 droid and I don't know why I never actually drew or talked about it before 😭
I didn't write it down, I think is why the idea slipped my mind, so now I'll totally remember to implement that into his lore from this point on
Fun Fact! In a modern AU, this movie would've been Tay's bi-awakening. He had mad crushes on both Aladdin and Jasmine growing up.
Additional Inspirations:
For Tay, there's this like theme about a loss of culture/assimilation that I associated heavily with the results of Manifest Destiny and the effects it had on Native people
Tay was taken from his home and therefore lost that culture because he was put into a totally different world and forced to assimilate or face severe consequences (like death)
For most of his life he thinks that his parents abandoned him or sold him off when in actuality he was essentially kidnapped and taken away from them
For his story, I also was inspired by the concept of Ouroboros - that cycle, a never-ending one, that can symbolize death and rebirth or eternity
Tay repeats this cycle of being, essentially, a slave to some large group/organization - first a gladiator in The Cauldron, then a mercenary with Black Sun, and then a soldier with the Empire - a never-ending cycle of not being truly free, yet he's "reborn" every single time
Tay's also one of those characters with a lot of dog symbolism tied to him - especially fighting dogs
He's not a violent person by nature - Chagrians are known to be peaceful folk - but he was put in cages and chains, and was forced to fight if he wanted to survive
Additional Links:
💫 Find out more about my OCs here! 💀 The Batch 🛡️ Jung-Myn Yun's 6 Inspirations ⚕️ Viram Cossa's 6 Inspirations 🌟 Khea Nultez's 6 Inspirations
